Governor misses deadline on commission for state-owned bank

Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration has missed a deadline imposed by the Legislature to assemble a commission charged with studying the creation of a state-owned bank.

Patrick signed an economic development bill into law Aug. 5 that required the creation of a commission to study the feasibility of a state-owned bank within 90 days of the bill’s signing. That deadline came and went earlier this month.

The lack of action doesn’t appear to be due to lack of interest on Patrick’s part. The governor, who won a hard-fought reelection campaign last week, told The Patriot Ledger last month that he found the concept of a state-owned bank intriguing and worth considering.

Kofi Jones, a spokeswoman for the Patrick administration, blamed the delay on the expansive nature of the economic development bill. Jones said her office has been busy with implementing various elements of the law, which called for the mergers of several agencies and an extension of building permits, among other things.

“There has been a large amount of work in implementing the legislation,” Jones said. “We are still working on bringing that group together on examining the possibility of a state-owned bank. ... We wanted to be as close to the timeline as the legislation requires as possible. We’re just not quite there yet.”

A delay in creating the commission could give the group less time to complete its report on the feasibility of a state-owned bank. That report is due by Aug. 5.

The proposal is the brainchild of Senate President Therese Murray, who became interested in the idea after learning about the Bank of North Dakota. That state, the only one with a state-owned bank, has fared better than almost every other state in the recession.

The commission would include members from state government agencies and the financial industry. The Senate and the House can make some of the appointments, but the bulk of the members need to be picked by the Patrick administration. For example, the governor can pick three members from candidates submitted by the Massachusetts Bankers Association and one from names submitted by Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Kevin Kiley, chief operating officer of the bankers group, said he hadn’t yet heard from the Patrick administration about the commission. However, his group recently began asking members whether they wanted to volunteer.

Kiley said some members are concerned that a state-owned bank could pose a competitive challenge to local banks, and that there are already numerous venues to get consumer and business loans in the state.

“We’re concerned about whether there’s realistically a need for it,” Kiley said, “(but) it’s incumbent on us to approach it with an open mind and participate in the process.”